Boeing XF8B

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XF8B
XF8B-1 BuNo 57986 wearing overall Glossy Sea Blue livery, photographed 12 December 1946
Role Fighter
Manufacturer Boeing
First flight 27 November 1944
Status Canceled
Primary users United States Navy
United States Army Air Forces
Number built 3

The Boeing XF8B (Model 400) was a single-engine aircraft developed by Boeing during World War II to provide the United States Navy with a long-range shipboard fighter aircraft. The XF8B was intended for operation against the Japanese home islands from aircraft carriers outside the range of Japanese land-based aircraft. Designed for various roles including interceptor, long-range escort fighter, dive-bomber, and torpedo bomber, the final design embodied a number of innovative features in order to accomplish the various roles. Despite its formidable capabilities, the XF8B-1 never entered series production.

Design and development

XF8B-1 illustrating the contra-rotating propellers

The XF8B-1 was, at the time, the largest and heaviest single-seat, single-engine fighter developed in the United States. Boeing called the XF8B-1 optimistically, the "five-in-one fighter" (fighter, interceptor, dive bomber, torpedo bomber, or level bomber). It was powered by a single 3,000 hp (2,200 kW)

propellers. It would be the largest single-seat piston fighter to fly in the U.S. to date.[1] The large wings featured outer sections which could fold vertically, while the fuselage incorporated an internal bomb bay and large fuel tanks; more fuel could be carried externally. The proposed armament included six 0.50 inch (12.7 mm) machine guns or six 20 mm wing-mounted cannons, and a 6,400 lb (2,900 kg) bomb load or two 2,000 lb (900 kg) torpedoes. The final configuration was a large but streamlined design, featuring a bubble canopy, sturdy main undercarriage that folded into the wings, and topped by a variation on the B-29 vertical tail.[citation needed][1]

The contract for three prototypes (BuNos 57984–57986) was awarded 4 May 1943, although only one was completed before the war ended.[1] It first flew in November 1944.[1] The two remaining prototypes were completed after the war, with the third (BuNo 57986) evaluated at Eglin Air Force Base by the United States Army Air Forces.[2]

Operational history

Drop tank arrangement on XF8B-1

To expedite testing and evaluation, a tandem seat was fitted to the first two prototypes to allow a flight engineer to help monitor the test flights. The second seat was easily accommodated in the roomy cockpit.[3]

Although testing of the promising XF8B concept continued into 1946 by the USAAF and 1947 by the US Navy, the end of the

micro switch. This occurred just as first shift was ending, and as many workers watched from the Plant 2 steps, the XF8B-1 bellied onto the concrete of Boeing Field.[3] As the test program was concluded, the prototypes were scrapped one by one, with 57986 lingering on into 1950.[citation needed
]

Operators

 United States

Specifications (Boeing XF8B-1)

3-view line drawing of the Boeing XF8B-1
3-view line drawing of the Boeing XF8B-1

Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1947,[4] Boeing XF8B-1 "Five-in-one" fighter.,[2] Last of the Line: Boeing's XF8B-1 Multi-purpose Fighter[3]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

  • Guns: 6x 20 mm (0.787 in) cannon or 6x 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine guns
  • Rockets: provision for rockets under the outer wings
  • Bombs: 6,400 lb (2,900 kg) bombs or 2x 2,000 lb (910 kg) torpedoes

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 1-85605-375-X
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-942612-65-5
    .
  3. ^ a b c Allen, Francis (Autumn 1994). "Last of the Line: Boeing's XF8B-1 Multi-purpose Fighter". Air Enthusiast (55): 27.
  4. ^ Bridgman, Leonard, ed. (1947). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1947. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. p. 188c.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boeing XF8B.
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